Apeil 29, 



••] 



SGIENCK 



611 



The arrangement of chapters and the develop- 

 ment of the subject is practically the same in. 

 both, as might be expected, in view of their 

 common authorship. But further than this, 

 whole phrases and sentences are to be found 

 everywhere which furnish parallel readings 

 with but slight verbal alterations. A frank 

 ackriowledgment of this parallelism, though 

 not a naatter of primary importance, might have 

 been of considerable assistance to some readers. 

 On the whole, the verbal changes referred to 

 are in the interest of conciseness and smooth- 

 ness of diction, and the limiting of discussion in 

 the ' Outline ' to a few salient points makes the 

 presentation cleareT and more acceptable to the 

 ordinary student. Assuming the general iden- 

 tity of standpoint of the two works, we need do 

 no more than point out their most striking dif- 

 ferences. In the earlier work the chapter on 

 Impulse, Instinct and Desire is placed after the 

 treatment of perception, reasoning and the emo- 

 tions, and just before the will. In the ' Outline ' 

 it is advanced to the first place in the part de- 

 voted to the Development of Mental Life, so 

 that it precedes even the discussion of Percep- 

 tion. This is a notable indication of the larger 

 prominence which the ' motor consciousness ' 

 is obtaining in psychology. 



A chapter is added in the ' Outline ' on the re- 

 lation between mind and body. The author 

 eliminates the metaphysical side of the topic, 

 which he has discussed in his Philosophy of 

 Mind, while the treatment of the scientific as- 

 pect may be considered an advance on the posi- 

 tion taken in his two works on physiological 

 psychology. 



The genetic standpoint is emphasized more 

 than in any of Professor Ladd's previous works, 

 while laboratory psychology is given more space 

 and greater importance, relatively, than in the 

 larger descriptive psychology. Diagrams occur 

 frequently to illustrate both particular experi- 

 ments and curves of general results. In con- 

 nection with the latter, it should be noted that 

 the diagrams on pages 84 and 85, which are 

 given for the purpose of exhibiting the differ- 

 ence between Weber's and Fechner's state- 

 ments of the psycho-physical law, are rather 

 misleading ; the axes of sensation and stimulus 

 are reversed in the two drawings, making the 



curves difficult of comparison, and, moreover; 

 the interpretation of the horizontal distances 

 (sensation increments) in the first diagram is 

 somewhat open to question. The psycho-phys- 

 ical law itself is stated (in italics) as follows : 

 "For any given class of sensation the least 

 noticeable difference is a constant fraction of 

 the sensation" (p. 83). A slip of this character 

 is unusual in so careful a writer as Professor 

 Ladd. 



It is scarcely in place here either to approve 

 or to criticise Professor Ladd's general posi- 

 tions, which are too well known to call for any 

 special review. The distinction between pro- 

 cesses and development of mental life forms 

 the basis for a two-fold division of the work. 

 The author reminds us in his preface that ex- 

 periment has been most frequently and suc- 

 cessfully applied to the elementary phases of 

 mental life, and that it has accomplished but 

 little in the higher types of psychical process. 

 The same position is maintained in the body of 

 the work, where references to experimental 

 results are largely confined to the first part. 



As indicated by the title, the ' Outline ' is a 

 ' descriptive' treatment of psychology. The 

 omission of detailed ' explanatory' portions, 

 which appear in the larger work, make it avail- 

 able for general class-room work, and in this 

 sphere it will doubtless prove of extreme value. 

 Page references to well-known authorities are 

 given at the end of each chapter, supplying a 

 more detailed treatment for those who wish it. 

 H. C. Waeeen. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 

 American Chemical Journal, April. ' An In- 

 vestigation of some Derivatives of Orthosulpho- 

 benzoic Anhydride : ' By M. D. Sohon. The 

 author studied the action of alcohol, phenols, 

 ammonia and amines on the anhydride and ob- 

 tained esters, phthaleins and other derivatives 

 which were well characterized. A series of sul- 

 phonic acids isomeric with the sulphamineben- 

 zoic acids was obtained. ' lodometric Estima- 

 tion of Tellurium : ' By J. F. Noeeis and H. 

 Fat. The authors oxidize the tellurous acid 

 with potassium permanganate, estimate the ex- 

 cess of the latter with potassium iodine and sul- 



